Prior to the proliferation of digital cameras and photo editing software, the only thing that professional photographers relied on was film cameras, lighting effects, lenses and the darkroom. Whether they’re into news, event, product or ‘people’ photography, it is a combination of these elements which will make their photos stand out from the rest.
These days, however, there are plenty of modern tools and software that wedding photographers in particular can use. In addition to lighting effects, lenses, filters and their ever-reliable DSLR cameras, they can utilize photo editing software to achieve the desired effect that they would like to create on wedding photos.
A Quick Look at What Photoshop is All About
It was in 1987 that Thomas Knoll wrote an image editing program called Display, which was later on renamed ImagePro. After a year of further refining the program, it was released in the market as the Photoshop image editing software. It was in 1990 that Photoshop 1.0 was released in the market exclusively for Macintosh users.
A couple of years later, Photoshop 2.5 which was compatible for Windows users was released in the market. Over the years, several improved versions of Photoshop were released, the latest of Photoshop CS5, launched April of 2010.
How Wedding Photographers can Maximize the Use of Photoshop in Image Editing
Now, how can wedding photographers maximize the use of Photoshop in Image Editing? Depending on the professional and personal style used by a photographer in taking wedding pictures, there are times when some or a lot of touch-ups need to be done in order to turn a digital photo from ordinary to amazing.
For example, wedding photographs typically need to have that romance element – and turning a color photo into black and white is one way to achieve this. When the newlywed couple is locked in an embrace, a photo would look more dramatic if the rest of the background appears blurred, with the shot focusing more on the couple.
Photoshop would help you create these effects – and more. Here are a few additional tips on how you can maximize the use of Photoshop in image editing if you’re a wedding photographer:
1. Use the different Photoshop tools to remove unwanted elements in a photograph.
The good thing about using Photoshop is that there are dozens of tools that you can use in order to achieve the final results that you want in a photograph. For example, an otherwise perfect shot of a couple in a dock by the bay might be ruined by the waves from a passing boat. In order to make the water appear calm, you can use Photoshop’s clone stamp tool to remove the waves.
The dodge and burn tool allows the couple’s image to be brightened in a photo if the subject appears too dark and the background too light.
2. Learn how to use color to your advantage.
If you want to give wedding photos that old look, you can turn a colored image into either sepia or black and white. Photoshop makes it easier to change the hue of the picture from what it was originally shot with.
3. Give the bride and groom some minor touch-ups using Photoshop.
Finally, you can use Photoshop to give the bride and groom some minor touch-ups. Photoshop has effects which soften the appearance of the skin, there’s an airbrush effect that you can use, and there’s even a tool which can whiten the teeth and the eyes of the subject!
Finally, there’s an entire tool called Wedding Enhancers which allows you to create a dozen effects which are particularly helpful in editing common wedding portraits.
Depending on how you would like the final set of wedding photos to reflect your work as a photographer, you can edit the images minimally, or as much as you’d like. What’s important is for you to maximize the tools in Photoshop to create the best work that you can come up with as a professional wedding photographer.